Jim Doyle

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Jim Doyle
Born	November 23rd, 1945 Washington, D.C.
Known for	44th Governor of Wisconsin
Spouse(s)	Jessica Doyle

Jim Doyle was born on Nov. 23, 1945 in Washington D.C. to James E. Doyle Sr and Ruth Bachhuber Doyle, founding members of the modern Democratic Party. Doyle served as the State of Wisconsin’s 44th governor and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as Dane County’s District Attorney and Wisconsin’s Attorney General before being elected Governor in 2003, an office he held until 2011. As Governor, Doyle was known for advocating public education, stem cell research and clean energy.

Doyle was succeeded by Republican Scott Walker.

Contents 1 Early life and Career 1.1 Education 1.2 Peace Corps 1.3 Attorney General 2 Gubernatorial Elections 2.1 2002 Election 2.2 2006 Election 3 Governor 3.1 Budgets 3.2 Controversy 4 Life After Governorship 5 External links 5.1 Notable articles 5.2 Other resources 6 References

Early life and Career

Education

He attended Stanford University for three years, then finished his undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Doyle received his Juris Doctor from Harvard University in 1972, after which he moved to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Ariz. to work as a federal attorney.^[1]

Peace Corps

After graduation, Doyle volunteered with the Peace Corps in Tunisia, Africa from 1967 to 1969. There he met his wife Jessica Laird. After earning his law degree, Doyle moved to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Ariz. to work as a federal attorney.

Doyle and his wife Jessica have two adopted sons, Gus and Gabe. ^[2]

Attorney General

Beginning in 1976, Doyle served three terms as Dane County District Attorney. He then spent eight years building his own private law practice.

In 1990, Doyle was elected Wisconsin’s Attorney General. He was re-elected in 1994 and 1998.

As attorney general, Doyle was considered to be extremely tough on crime while also winning many successful lawsuits against tobacco companies in the state.^[3]

Gubernatorial Elections

2002 Election

Doyle won the democratic primary in 2002 against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk with 38.4 percent of the vote versus 34.5 percent and 27.1 percent respectively.

In the 2002 gubernatorial race, Doyle ran against two major competitors: Republican incumbent Scott McCallum and Libertarian Ed Thompson.

McCallum was Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor until his running mate and former Republican governor Tommy Thompson resigned to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2001. McCallum served as governor for the final two years of Thompson’s term.

The other competitor in the race was former governor Thompson’s brother Ed Thompson, who ran in the 2002 gubernatorial race as a libertarian.

On Election Day, Doyle won plurality with 45.1 percent of the votes versus McCallum’s 41.4 percent of the votes and Ed Thompson’s 10.5 percent of the votes. ^[4]

2006 Election

In the 2006 gubernatorial election, Doyle defeated Republican Congressman Mark Green with 52.7 versus Green’s 45.3 percent of the vote.

That year, no incumbent Democrat in state government lost their seat for reelection.^[5]

Governor

When Doyle took office on Jan. 6, 2003, he became the first Wisconsin Democratic governor to take office since 1986. He also inherited one of the biggest budget deficits in the history of Wisconsin—$3.2 billion.

Budgets

July 24, 2003, Doyle signed the state’s 2003-2005 biennium budget, which totaled $48.6 billion after he vetoed 131 items, including the Republican’s controversial property tax freeze. It also closed the $3.2 billion budget deficit.

July 25, 2005, Doyle signed the 2005-2007 state biennium budget after using his veto 139 times to pass a $52.9 billion budget which fixed the state’s $1.6 billion deficit without raising taxes.^[6]

Oct. 22, 2007, Doyle signed the state’s $57.2 billion 2007-2009 biennium budget after a four-month long budget impasse created by tension between the Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature. He also used the fewest amount of vetoes made by any governor in the past 35 years while also overcoming the state’s $1.5 billion deficit.

June 29, 2009, Doyle signed Wisconsin’s 2009-2011 biennium budget after vetoing 81 items to cut $10 million dollars and solve the $6.6 billion budget deficit. In the end, the budget totaled $62 billion and was the first biennium budget since 1977 to be signed into law before the start of the new fiscal year.^[7]

As for the 2009-2011 budget deficits, the Legislative Audit Bureau released a report Jan. 27, 2010 projecting a $219.5 million budget deficit for the biennium year, due mostly to termination of the Minnesota-Wisconsin income tax reciprocity and a decrease in tax collections.^{[citation needed]}

So far, the projected budget deficit for 2001-2013 is $1.5 billion.

Throughout his time as governor, Doyle has been a supporter of clean energy, stem cell research and education--especially at the University of Wisconsin--vowing to protect these items in his budgets.^[8]

Some important bills passed under Doyle include the state-wide smoking ban, domestic partner registry, drunken driving reform, Frankenstein veto ban, and more.

In November 2008, rumor had it that Doyle had been offered a cabinet position by President Barack Obama. Later it was also rumored that Doyle would be given the position of Ambassador to Ireland. However, neither of these posts came to fruition as Doyle continually told media sources he would serve out his full term as the governor of Wisconsin.

Sept. 17, 2009, Doyle announced that he would not run for reelection in the 2010 gubernatorial race, leaving the Democratic nominee seat to his Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton.^[9]

However, on Oct. 26, 2009, Lawton announced she would not run for the governor’s seat, leaving the Democratic nominee seat to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Barrett lost the election in a close race to Republican Governor Scott Walker.

Controversy

Doyle was criticized toward the end of his term in October 2010 for the large number of pardons he granted. He granted more than 85 criminal pardons in 2010, and 213 total pardons throughout his tenure as governor. These numbers were criticized by a number of Doyle's Republican counterparts, including former chairman of the Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Committee Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford.

Doyle was also put into a controversial position when current Gov. Scott Walker said he would derail all plans for Doyle's previously approved high-speed passenger rail program. Though Doyle was a strong supporter of the controversial project, he halted construction on the project immediately following the November 2010 election.

Life After Governorship

After leaving the Governor's office at the beginning of 2011, Doyle became a consultant for the Madison office of Foley and Lardner LLP. He provides services to the firm's clients throughout the country. He works as an expert on health care and energy policy.

External links

Notable articles

• Doyle: No coal at UW by 2012
• Madison may host 2016 Olympic cycling events
• Doyle signs statewide smoking ban
• Doyle signs state budget by deadline
• Supreme Court dismisses case
• State receives $800M for new high speed rail
• Legislature approves long overdue budget
• He's out: Candidates consider race
• Gov. Jim Doyle calls for solutions to carp
• Doyle will be consultant in Madison law firm
• Doyle leaves high-speed rail decision to Walker; New York wants Wisconsin train money

Other resources

• Wisconsin State Government Website
• Clean Energy Wisconsin

References